Book Review: MEDICIS DAUGHTER: A NOVEL OF MARGUERITE DE VALOIS by Sophie Perinot

Marguerite de Valois princess of France is the daughter of the notorious Italian poisoner Queen Catherine de Medici. Ruled by her vigilantly religious mother Margot is ordered to the French court. A child no more, Margot finds the French court full of deceit and intrigue with her family the full center of it.

It was a natural thing at the French court to flirt and have secret liaisons with lovers. But Margot being a blood royal was excluded from the affairs of the heart. She was to be like every other royal princess and be bargained off for the political advantage of her family. She knew her duty to her family but could not stop herself from falling in love with her kingly brothers BFF the Duke of Guise. Starting out as a puppy love affair it rapidly progressed to an affair. Her mother would lock her up in a convent for the rest of her life if she ever found out the truth of her late night meetings with the Duke.

In love with the Duke of Guise, Margot starts to slide and her vicious mother and brother discover her liaisons. Brutally punished for her transgressions her mother decides the only way to stop the courts gossip was to marry her off to her cousin for the most political gain. Her new husband Henri of Navarre is the leader of the heretic Huguenot’s. Margot will become Queen of Navarre but married to a heretic.

Religious tensions are running super high at the time of the wedding because France is a catholic country. Marrying a catholic princess of France to a heretic caused quite a stir. Margot’s disgruntled lover the Duke of Guise was at the head of it all. All this tension is leading up to one of France’s darkest days, the St. Bartholomew’s massacre. Torn between a promise to her new husband and her vicious family Margot will have to look deep within her heart to find a way to survive the massacre her family has inflicted on the Huguenots.

5/5 incredibly vicious in the best of ways possible. I love Sophie Perinot’s novels. She always delivers on the darker sides of history.

R ~ Rating for sexual references and violence
FTC ~ This novel was sent to me for review. I received no compensation for this review.

Amazon
Médicis Daughter: A Novel of Marguerite de Valois
The Sister Queens
~Lizzie~

Mailbox Monday: Variety Haul

A Novel of Marguerite de Valois Medicis Daughter by Sophie Perinot
"Winter, 1564. Beautiful young Princess Margot is summoned to the court of France, where nothing is what it seems and a wrong word can lead to ruin. Known across Europe as Madame la Serpente, Margot's intimidating mother, Queen Catherine de Médicis, is a powerful force in a country devastated by religious war. Among the crafty nobility of the royal court, Margot learns the intriguing and unspoken rules she must live by to please her poisonous family.

Eager to be an obedient daughter, Margot accepts her role as a marriage pawn, even as she is charmed by the powerful, charismatic Duc de Guise. Though Margot's heart belongs to Guise, her hand will be offered to Henri of Navarre, a Huguenot leader and a notorious heretic looking to seal a tenuous truce. But the promised peace is a mirage: her mother's schemes are endless, and her brothers plot vengeance in the streets of Paris. When Margot's wedding devolves into the bloodshed of the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, she will be forced to choose between her family and her soul.

Médicis Daughter is historical fiction at its finest, weaving a unique coming-of-age story and a forbidden love with one of the most dramatic and violent events in French history".

Cavendon Hall by Barbara Taylor Bradford
"From the #1 New York Times bestselling author comes an epic saga of intrigue and mystique set in Edwardian England. Cavendon Hall is home to two families, the aristocratic Inghams and the Swanns who serve them. Charles Ingham, the sixth Earl of Mowbray, lives there with his wife Felicity and their six children. Walter Swann, the premier male of the Swann family, is valet to the earl. His wife Alice, a clever seamstress who is in charge of the countess's wardrobe, also makes clothes for the four daughters. For centuries, these two families have lived side-by-side, beneath the backdrop of the imposing Yorkshire manor. Lady Daphne, the most beautiful of the Earl's daughters, is about to be presented at court when a devastating event changes her life and threatens the Ingham name. With World War I looming, both families will find themselves tested in ways they never thought possible. Loyalties will be challenged and betrayals will be set into motion. In this time of uncertainty, one thing is sure: these two families will never be the same again. Cavendon Hall is Barbara Taylor Bradford at her very best, and its sweeping story of secrets, love, honor, and betrayal will have readers riveted up to the very last page".

A Place Beyond Courage by Elizabeth Chadwick
"Sometimes Keeping Your Honor Means Breaking Your Word

The early twelfth century is a time for ambitious men to prosper. John FitzGilbert is a man of honor and loyalty, sworn to royal service. When the old king dies, his successor rewards the handsome and ambitious John with castles and lands. But King Stephen has a tenuous hold on both his reign and his barons, and when jealous rivals at court seek to destroy John, he backs a woman's claim to the crown, sacrifices his marriage, and eventually is forced to make a gamble that is perhaps one step too far.

Rich with detail, masterful in its storytelling, A Place Beyond Courage is a tale of impossible gambles and the real meaning of honor".

"Picking up an Elizabeth Chadwick novel is like having a Bentley draw up at your door: you know you are in for a sumptouous ride."-Daily Telegraph

"The best writer of medieval fiction currently around."-Richard Lee, founder and publisher, Historical Novel Society

"A star back in Britain, Elizabeth Chadwick is finally getting the attention she deserves here."-USA Today

December New Releases: Medicis Daughter by Sophie Perinot and MORE!

In Bookstores Today!

A Novel of Marguerite de Valois Medicis Daughter by Sophie Perinot
"Winter, 1564. Beautiful young Princess Margot is summoned to the court of France, where nothing is what it seems and a wrong word can lead to ruin. Known across Europe as Madame la Serpente, Margot's intimidating mother, Queen Catherine de Médicis, is a powerful force in a country devastated by religious war. Among the crafty nobility of the royal court, Margot learns the intriguing and unspoken rules she must live by to please her poisonous family.

Eager to be an obedient daughter, Margot accepts her role as a marriage pawn, even as she is charmed by the powerful, charismatic Duc de Guise. Though Margot's heart belongs to Guise, her hand will be offered to Henri of Navarre, a Huguenot leader and a notorious heretic looking to seal a tenuous truce. But the promised peace is a mirage: her mother's schemes are endless, and her brothers plot vengeance in the streets of Paris. When Margot's wedding devolves into the bloodshed of the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, she will be forced to choose between her family and her soul.

Médicis Daughter is historical fiction at its finest, weaving a unique coming-of-age story and a forbidden love with one of the most dramatic and violent events in French history".

The Painter's Daughter by Julie Klaassen
"When Zenobia takes control of her own fate, will the gods punish her audacity?

Zenobia, the proud daughter of a Syrian sheikh, refuses to marry against her will. She won’t submit to a lifetime of subservience. When her father dies, she sets out on her own, pursuing the power she believes to be her birthright, dreaming of the Roman Empire’s downfall and her ascendance to the throne.

Defying her family, Zenobia arranges her own marriage to the most influential man in the city of Palmyra. But their union is anything but peaceful—his other wife begrudges the marriage and the birth of Zenobia’s son, and Zenobia finds herself ever more drawn to her guardsman, Zabdas. As war breaks out, she’s faced with terrible choices.

From the decadent halls of Rome to the golden sands of Egypt, Zenobia fights for power, for love, and for her son. But will her hubris draw the wrath of the gods? Will she learn a “woman’s place,” or can she finally stake her claim as Empress of the East"?

Daughter of Sand and Stone Libbie Hawker
"Julie Klassen Is the Gold Standard for Inspirational Regency Fiction
Sophie Dupont, daughter of a portrait painter, assists her father in his studio, keeping her own artwork out of sight. She often walks the cliffside path along the north Devon coast, popular with artists and poets. It's where she met the handsome Wesley Overtree, the first man to tell her she's beautiful.

Captain Stephen Overtree is accustomed to taking on his brother's neglected duties. Home on leave, he's sent to find Wesley. Knowing his brother rented a cottage from a fellow painter, he travels to Devonshire and meets Miss Dupont, the painter's daughter. He's startled to recognize her from a miniature portrait he carries with him--one of Wesley's discarded works. But his happiness plummets when he realizes Wesley has left her with child and sailed away to Italy in search of a new muse.

Wanting to do something worthwhile with his life, Stephen proposes to Sophie. He does not offer love, or even a future together, but he can save her from scandal. If he dies in battle, as he believes he will, she'll be a respectable widow with the protection of his family.

Desperate for a way to escape her predicament, Sophie agrees to marry a stranger and travel to his family's estate. But at Overtree Hall, her problems are just beginning. Will she regret marrying Captain Overtree when a repentant Wesley returns? Or will she find herself torn between the father of her child and her growing affection for the husband she barely knows"?

Cover Art Alert: Medicis Daughter: A Novel of Marguerite de Valois by Sophie Perinot

Medicis Daughter: A Novel of Marguerite de Valois by Sophie Perinot Releasing December 1, 2015 

Winter, 1564. Beautiful young Princess Margot is summoned to her mother's household, where her education begins in earnest. Known across Europe as Madame la Serpente, Catherine de Médicis is an intimidating and unmoving presence in France-a powerful force in a country recovering from the first of many devastating religious wars. Among the crafty nobility of the royal court, Margot learns the intriguing and unspoken rules she must live by to please her manipulative family.


Eager to be an obedient daughter, Margot accepts her role as a marriage pawn, even as she is charmed by the powerful, charismatic Duc de Guise. Though Margot's heart belongs to Guise, her hand will be offered to Henri of Navarre, a Huguenot leader and a notorious heretic looking to seal a tenuous truce. But the promised peace is a mirage: her mother's schemes are endless, and her brothers plot vengeance in the streets of Paris. When Margot's wedding devolves into the bloodshed of the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre, she will be forced to choose between her family and her soul.

Médicis Daughter is historical fiction at its finest, weaving a unique coming-of-age story and a forbidden love with one of the most dramatic and violent events in French history.
Pre- Order from Amazon: Medicis Daughter: A Novel of Marguerite de Valois by Sophie Perinot

S T A Y  C O N N E C T E D  W I T H  M E :
S U B S C R I B E ~ T W I T T E R ‪ ~ F A C E B O O K ~ I N S T A G R A M ~ G O O G L E +‪
~L I Z Z I E~